Earthquakes, high winds, hurricanes and tornadoes can impose cataclysmic forces on buildings that cause major and expensive damage as well as structural failure. To counteract these forces, it has become common practice to add connectors between the structural members of a building in areas where such cataclysmic forces can occur. For example, a connector can be added to strengthen a connection between a framed wall and a building foundation to increase resistance to shifting of the framed wall relative to the building foundation. Similarly a connector is required to form a connection between a concrete or masonry wall and the roof structure.
Current connectors are inadequate for the cataclysmic forces that some building structures require and/or have inefficient designs that require too many fasteners to mount the connector to the building structure. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved connector for strengthening the connections between structural members of a building.